Practice-Based Coaching: Virtual Coaching Considerations

Coaching Corner Series: Practice-Based Coaching: Virtual Coaching Considerations

Ragan McLeod: Welcome to our “Coaching Corner” webinar for December 2020. We hope you had an opportunity to think about the virtual coaching that you've been doing, and we're very glad that you're joining us today for this session. In the past year, we know that many of you have had to make the shift from providing that traditional face-to-face professional development  to really adapting your professional development efforts for virtual delivery. So, in this presentation, we'll share tips and resources for virtual delivery of practice-based coaching. More specifically, we want to talk about those program-level considerations for virtual coaching and advice for delivering the components of PBC virtually. Before we begin, I'd like to go over some information regarding the webinar. We'll be using some of the features of this webinar platform to help us interact. At the bottom of your screen, you'll notice these widgets. If you have any questions during the webinar, you can submit them through the purple Q&A widget. We'll try to answer these during the webinar, and we will capture all of those questions. If you have any tech questions, you can also enter them here. A copy of today's slide deck and an additional resource list is available in the widget labeled “Resource List,” and it's the green widget. We encourage you to download the resource list and go to any of the links that you find useful. Throughout the session, we may use the yellow “Idea” widget to engage with you. You can find additional answers to some common technical issues using the “Help” widget that's yellow at the bottom of your screen. You can also find the closed captioning widgets in both English and Spanish. Each of these widgets are resizable and movable so you can customize it how you like. Simply click on the widget, move it by dragging and dropping, and resize using the arrows at the top corners. Finally, if you have any trouble, try refreshing your browser by pressing F5. Be sure to log off your VPN and exit out of any other browsers.

So, let's get started. We know that this year, many of you have had to be very flexible with your coaching, and you've been inspired to think about delivering coaching, delivering practice-based coaching, and supporting your coachees in lots of different ways. We also know that the recent circumstances have highlighted some challenges with access to and quality of technology available to staff, including you as coaches and your coachees. Remember that virtual coaching or coaching at a distance doesn't have to be just through video chatting or through online means. You can also communicate by e-mail, by text, by phone. Those are all ways that we can communicate with our coachees or other education staff in this time where we may not get to see people face-to-face. It's important for you to decide what will work best for you, for your program, for your coachees to continue this communication and right now when we're working more virtually. So, by the end of this session, what really want is for you to be able to identify how your program can plan for and support virtual delivery in practice-based coaching. We also want you to be able to identify ways in which the components of PBC can be delivered virtually and some resources for you as you're thinking about delivering PBC virtually. We really want you to think today about what pieces of this are useful to you. What can you take away from this webinar and in your role with coaching? We really hope that you find some useful strategies and resources to help you move your coaching forward. So, this is our first webinar in a couple of months. We know that we may have some new people new to practice-based coaching on, so we wanted to do just a quick overview or reminder of practice-based coaching. So, as a reminder, practice-based coaching is a cyclical process for supporting education staff and their use of evidence-based or effective practices. So, we start with that centerpiece of practice-based coaching, which is really focused on effective teaching and home visiting practices. Practice-based coaching is really ... The foundation of practice-based coaching is really these collaborative partnerships, so coach and coachee – coachees working together to move those effective practices forward. The first component of practice-based coaching is shared goals and action planning, so this is really where the coach and the coachee work together to develop a shared goal and an action plan for reaching the goal around those practices. All of that, of course, is based on data around how the coachee is currently using the effective practices. Once that goal and action plan is developed, there's a focused observation that is focused on that goal and that action plan to determine how the coachee is making progress towards the goal. And then, after the focused observation, there's a reflection and feedback that gives the coachee an opportunity to reflect on the progress towards the goal and also, for the coach to provide feedback on that progress. Again, this is all a cyclical process, and so, once we've completed a reflection and feedback, we move forward to, again, focusing on that action plan, making any changes, and then, moving back into a focused observation, and the cycle continues.

I wanted to point out, on the resource list, there are a number of resources that for you, if you are new to practice-based coaching, or to share with others who might be newer to practice-based coaching, including some documents about practice-based coaching. There are also online modules on the IPB that are an introductory set of modules for practice-based coaching. Additionally, there are other Coaching Corner webinars that can provide you information about practice-based coaching as well as some overview videos on ECLKC, so please feel free to check those out after this webinar. Again, for those of you who might not be as familiar with practice-based coaching, we wanted to provide an overview of the different ways that practice-based coaching can be delivered. So, there are lots of different options for delivering practice-based coaching. When you're implementing practice-based coaching, you can have different coaching partners, so you might have an expert be the coach, and that's someone who's an expert in coaching practices as well as in the effective practices that are the focus of coaching. You might have peers coach each other, and so, these are two staff members who are working at about the same level on a set of practices, or a coachee might coach themselves. When we're thinking about delivering coaching, you can deliver it on site, so face-to-face, where you meet to develop the action plan and the goal. You observe. The focused observation is completed on-site. Then you meet again, face-to-face, for the reflection and feedback meeting. Or you might perform some or all of those components from a distance so that you might complete an observation by video, or you might meet by teleconference or video conference. And so, another kind of level of this now is that often, coaches or others who are providing professional development are working with coachees – education staff who are providing services to families and kids virtually. And so, you may be distanced coaching or virtually coaching someone who is also using those practices virtually, so that's another layer now that we've not really focused on coaching before. And again, I just want to say traditionally, we've used the word “distanced,” but now, more often, “virtual coaching” is used, and so, we'll use those terms interchangeably. And then, we can also think about delivering coaching to an individual so one-on-one coaching, one coach working with one coachee or to a group, so you might work with a teaching team, or you might work with a group of teachers or home visitors that are working on about the same – on similar practices. However your coaching is delivered, whatever types of partners or delivery methods or groupings that you're using, in order to call it practice-based coaching, it has to have all of those components and follow that cycle that I mentioned before.

And to that point, we know that, again, many of you might have found yourselves providing support to your coachees virtually, so you might be holding meetings with your coachees virtually, or you might be observing them working with their children or their families virtually, and there are lots of different ways we can provide support virtually, so you might be providing resources. You might be having conversations where you're developing an action plan and goal with the coachee through video conference, but really, that may not be what we would consider practice-based coaching if we're not able to follow that cycle. So, for example, if you are working with a coachee, and they're not currently getting to interact with their families or kids, then you may be supporting them by looking at old videos of their coaching from when they were visiting families and providing some feedback and troubleshooting with them. But if the coachee does not then have an opportunity to go back and practice that skill again or implement that feedback, then we wouldn't really consider it a true coaching cycle. So, again, you may be providing professional development in different ways, in lots of fabulous ways, but it may not be what we consider that real practice-based coaching cycle. I want to say that because you may not see that the coachee is able to really implement those practices, and we don't want you think, "Oh, I'm doing all this great coaching, but I don't see them moving forward.” If they don't have an opportunity to really implement after you provided reflection and feedback or had those reflection and feedback conversations, then they're not really going to be moving forward in your practice at that point.

Joyce Escorcia: And we also wanted to kind of start our time together today by also mentioning the Head Start Coaching Companion and just to kind of acknowledge that many – many of you that are on today are familiar with Head Start Coaching Companion. Maybe we have some that, you know, this is something new that maybe you haven't heard of, and for many of you, this is maybe a time of like, "You know, I'm kind of curious about that Head Start Coaching Companion again." And so, as a reminder, the Head Start Coaching Companion just allows for some additional flexibility in communication between coaches and coachees and then, also even say between, like, group coaching or a TLC with the TLC facilitator and the participants, that the Head Start Coaching Companion really allows you to kind of archive video and kind of be able to go back and look at specific video clips of effective teaching practices or home visiting practices to kind of see progress over time. Many programs have integrated the Head Start Coaching Companion as a part of their kind of ongoing coaching efforts and a part of their research-based coordinated coaching strategy, whether they're doing coaching virtually or in person, that the Head Start Coaching Companion does lend itself to kind of even the hybrid model where if you're doing some on-site and some virtual coaching, or especially right now where, you know, maybe you're having to go back and forth because of, you know, the pandemic and different things that are happening within our communities. And so, that's just something else to consider. And then, the Head Start Coaching Companion can also be used to help manage time and even reduce the time needed for coaching that you're able to provide feedback, like, instant feedback within a video clip that you're watching and able to time stamp that, that there's also greater opportunities for interaction between coaches and coachees whether that's, you know, one-on-one or within groups and in TLC groups even. And that also, you have the ability to access resources that you may upload yourself, and also, you have access to our Head Start Coaching Companion library that contains all kinds of resources that support coaching. It contains resources from our PBC coach training. It contains resources from the in-service suites. So, again, just a great resource to kind of have there at your fingertips, and, you know, if you want to know more, we have included some links within the resource list for this webinar. And also, wanted to mention that I'll be popping in throughout our time together to kind of make some of those Head Start connections throughout our webinar today, so look forward to kind of making some of those connections.

Ashley Nemec: Thank you, Joyce. So, I'm Ashley Nemec, and we're going to shift our conversation into a panel discussion with Joyce and Ragan. We're going to kind of walk through the cycle, and they're going to talk us through about some considerations when delivering PBC virtually and supporting coaching. We've incorporated a variety of opportunities for you to reflect and dig deeper into the resources throughout our webinar today. If you're watching live, you can submit questions via the Q&A widget at the bottom of your screen, and we look forward to hearing from you. We know many programs right now have provided coaching or other professional development virtually for a variety of reasons, and those who are newer to this delivery method may have discovered some of the true benefits of coaching and/or supporting staff virtually. So, right now is the opportunity to think about what you want to continue doing virtually as you're returning to in person coaching and/or planning for the next coaching year. So, let's check in with Ragan and Joyce and get this conversation started. What are some of the benefits of virtual coaching?

Joyce: So, there are many benefits to virtual coaching, and, you know, one of the things that we like to highlight is just – and it can be a time saver – one of the things that we hear is that one of the barriers to coaching is just the time that it takes. You know, say rural areas, where there's a lot of driving involved, or say with a program that just services a really big geographic area that a lot of time can be spent just getting from point A to point B, and the Head Start Coaching Companion, for example, or, you know, even just using, like, videoconferencing, that can really reduce travel time and then, also, add to the time that's available to spend with coaches and coachees actually working on supporting the use of those effective, like, teaching and home visiting practices. Also, conducting focused observations virtually, again, whether it's, you know, using some, like, where you upload a video using the Head Start Coaching Companion, those things as well you can save time. As well as instead of having to kind of be there for the actual observation, the coachee can upload a video of that specific practice that they've been doing, and then, you're able to have this really meaningful, intentional conversation about the goal and the practice that they're working on. So, again, it's just, you know, another way to kind of save time and to be able to kind of connect people, so that's one of the kind of a barrier, but again, the way virtual coaching can kind of help kind of get past that and even kind of enhance that. And as I mentioned, you know, the Head Start Coaching Companion, and like I said, I'll be here to kind of pop in and talk about that, it really can be a time saver between coaches and coachees and kind of with the coaching efforts happening. And also, just to highlight that within the Head Start Coaching Companion, you can also share your own resources. So, say if you have resources that you're using within your programs, that you can have, like, an observation checklist, those kind of things that you can actually fill those out as you're watching a specific video clip. Within the Head Start Coaching Companion, you can actually provide feedback within that video clip, and if you did have some kind of internal observation checklist, you can upload it to be a part of that coaching cycle. So, again, just another kind of quick connection there.

Ragan: You know, Joyce, when you're thinking about video, too, and doing those video observations, another great thing about virtual coaching or using video for observations specifically in virtual coaching is that it really is an opportunity. It gives you an opportunity to really observe and reflect before a meeting, so if you're there for a live observation, you just have that moment. You see it, and you have to write down, or you have to record what you see in that moment, but if you have it on video, you can go back and look at it. A coachee can review the video before you meet, so there's really lots of opportunities to really have that objective view of what's going on around those practices. And kind of on the same note, when you're using video for those observations, as a coach, you can view that video more than once, and you can really take that opportunity to identify specific times and have evidence of those specific times when a coachee is using a practice. So, it's a great tool for giving that supportive feedback, and you can identify those times where there might be missed opportunities to use a practice and use that as a jumping-off point for reflection and feedback, so video is such a powerful tool. And so, when we're having – when you're implementing coaching virtually and having those videos as the observation, then it can be really – really useful as you are providing that reflection and feedback.

Ashley: Yeah, I love that idea of both the coach and the coachee having access to seeing the video. I could see how that could really support the collaborative partnership too when the coach is giving feedback that the coachee could then see, "Oh, yeah, I did do that," or kind of reminds me of my pre-service work when I had to, you know, be observed through video teaching. So, onto our next question, what should programs consider when coaching or supporting coachees virtually?

Ragan: That's a great question, Ashley. I think, you know, one of the primary things to consider is whether or not coaches and coachees have access to the necessary technology that they need to participate in coaching virtually, right? So, this means that programs may need to determine or ensure that there is high-speed Internet or Wi-Fi that the coaches and coachees can use if they're going to be doing videoconferencing or that there's tablets or cameras that are available for recording and viewing videos if the focused observations are going to be completed by video. Also, what's really important to think about is – is there a secure site like the Head Start Coaching Companion where you can upload those videos of the observation? Want to make sure as a part of practice-based coaching, right? We want to make that safe space where coachees feel comfortable sharing their video, so it's really important that it's a secure place that they're sharing those videos. You know, as you're really thinking about moving forward, whether you're going to continue coaching virtually or at a distance or whether you're going to go back to that in-person coaching, we've really got to think about, “Is virtual coaching working for us, if we want to continue to do it? And is it not working because we don't have the technology in place?” You know … “And so, if we want to continue it, what do we need to make this work?” So, I would suggest that you and the other coaches in your program reflect with your program leadership too. “What is it that we need to make virtual coaching work for us?” You know, I think, as we're thinking about this again, one of the biggest barriers that we've heard from coaches and programs is that access to Wi-Fi or internet in programs or access to just other technology, tablets, or, you know, the access to cameras, that sort of thing. So, you may need to involve your physical or your tech personnel in your program to help you think about how you could do things differently if you want to continue with virtual coaching, so things like … We've heard of programs using mobile hot spots to boost broadband, using tablets or laptops that can be shared or taken with staff when they use them in their home, or they're having visits or working virtually with families. You know, we've had programs that have been able to provide cell phones to staff members to be able to do some of their work virtually. So, thinking, you know, thinking now, as you're moving forward either continuing to coach virtually or thinking of other ways, are there technologies that you need, and who do you need to work with to fulfill those technology needs? We also want to point out that on the resources list, we've included a couple of resources that can support staff and families with access to technology, so a couple of different programs or ways to provide low-cost technology or Wi-Fi to staff and families.

Joyce: Yeah, great thing to kind of bring out, Ragan, just that access to technology, and then, the other thing to think about also is ongoing professional development for your staff, your coaches and coachees, that they're going to need ongoing support for using technology that's necessary for them to provide virtual coaching and to actually do virtual coaching and participate in virtual coaching. Things like training on, you know, how to use equipment, because depending on your staff, you know, not everyone is as comfortable with, you know, a smartphone or a tablet, or they may be comfortable with a smartphone, but you may have some folks that use an iPhone, and, you know, you're using Android devices, or maybe they have an Android, and you're going to be using, like, an iOS device. So, things like that, even if they're going to be – they need to use tripods, like, how to set those things up. Also, just going through and thinking about how to upload video to whatever platform that you choose to use. If you choose to use the Head Start Coaching Companion, then, you know, everyone is going to need training and an opportunity just to get comfortable with, you know, how to navigate the Head Start Coaching Companion, how to access it, and how to upload videos and provide feedback and, you know, kind of participate in that coaching cycle. So, again, that's just another quick Head Start Coaching Companion kind of connection there, and just another quick reminder, that we've included some resources if you want more information about that within our resource list, so that's something else to kind of consider there. And then, when you're thinking about, you know, providing this virtual support, you may want to kind of just consider how comfortable even you are with, you know, using technology. How comfortable are your coaches and coachees with using technology? You know, it might be best to even pilot this. Like, don't think, "OK, you know, oh, my gosh, like, we've got to do everything with everyone," because, you know, that can be a little stressful, but think, "OK, can I try this out? Like, do I have, like, one coachee, or do I even," you know, say if you're an ed manager that's supporting coaches, do you have one coach that you can maybe just try this out with, whatever platform it is that you're using, or if you are going to use the Coaching Companion, “Can we try it out just a little bit to get us both comfortable so then we can kind of spread the love and are able to support others in using whatever platform that we've chosen to use?” So, that's something else to kind of consider as well.

And, again, just thinking about, again, the staying comfortable – getting comfortable with technology is, you know, “How can I help coachees – coaches get comfortable with technology?” And there's a lot of different ways to be right about this. Some ideas there would be, you know, as a coach, you could model the whole process for your coachees, and you could set up let's say, like, a sample cycle if it's in the Coaching Companion where, you know, you upload a video of, you know, you implementing a certain practice and let them kind of play around and provide some feedback. So, you know, to kind of let them feel comfortable with that as well. Also giving coachees ownership of the videos that they get to choose. You know, let them choose – with some supporting guidance from you – but let them choose kind of what they want to upload as, you know, kind of for that focused observation piece can also help. And then, also just being sure that you use a secure site and that you're able to communicate that with staff so that they know that what they're sharing, again, that collaborative partnership space, that safe space to share, that they know that where they're putting their video, that where they're putting their information is safe and secure and that, you know, no one else is going to be able to access their information. And again, I said I would be popping in with the Head Start Coaching Companion. That's another benefit of using the Head Start Coaching Companion, that it is a safe and secure site, that, you know, videos that are uploaded can only be, you know, seen by, you know, between a coach and a coachee that are involved in a specific cycle. So, I just wanted to mention that as well and also thinking about, do you have maybe coaches or coachees that have had positive experiences with doing things virtually, having them share, say, you know, in-service or staff development to kind of share their own victories and success stories, can also be a big morale booster. So, those are just a few ideas to kind of think about there as well.

Ashley: These are all really great ideas to think about when coaching or planning to coach virtually. So, are these considerations that could be discussed or planned for by the program or the PBC implementation team?

Ragan: Yeah, Ashley, I'm so glad you said that, because this is definitely something we know a program needs to plan for, right, so we know that coaching, especially virtual coaching, is not the sole responsibility of the coach, but it involves a lot of planning at the program level. And, you know, typically we talk about a program-level PBC implementation team, and you may be a part of that as a coach, but, you know, there needs to be a larger discussion, not just you as a coach saying, you know, trying to figure this out on your own or how to do this on your own. At the program level, your implementation team – your PBC implementation team needs to really be thinking about what we call the three Ps of practice-based coaching: preparation, personnel, and processes. So, let's look at each of these a little bit. So, when we think about preparation, and we're thinking specifically about virtual coaching, you ought to really think about some of the things that we've mentioned before, which is, you know, how do we make sure that what we're doing around virtual coaching is really supporting our education staff to use those effective practices? And that's coaching overall, whether we're providing it virtually or in person, but what do we need to make sure – how do we need to make sure that this is really – the coaching we're providing is really supporting them to use those effective practices? So, that's kind of the big question, so you can think about how we structure our virtual coaching to make sure it is providing that level of support we need for our coachees. When we're thinking about personnel at the program level, some of the questions that implementation team may think about is, “Are we really preparing our coaches and our coachees to use this technology to provide virtual coaching or to participate in virtual coaching?” And so, thinking about what the training is that needs to be provided to the coaches and coachees to be able to coach virtually in a functional way. And then, when we think about processes, when we talk about processes with our three Ps of PBC, we're really thinking about the data function here. So, you know, effective practice-based coaching requires monitoring and evaluating how the coaching is delivered and the effects of the coaching on the education staff and the families and children. So, we want to make sure that as we're delivering that coaching virtually that we're continuing to collect data on our coaching – how it's being delivered, how often we're actually able to provide full coaching cycles, what goals we're working on, and what the outcomes are for our children and families. So, again, these are all things that a program really needs to consider as they're deciding, “Do we continue doing virtual coaching in the way we're doing it? Do we need to make some tweaks to it?” So, those decisions about how it's delivered – how coaching is delivered are really, again, those program-level decisions, and you as a coach have a say in that. You have a voice in that, but it should not be completely on you to make the decisions.

Ashley: Great, thank you, Ragan. So, we're going to shift our conversation to actually thinking about considerations for the PBC cycle, and as we begin to talk about strategies and you hear our panelists share resources and ideas specific to each PBC component, think about how you're going to use this information. Is this something you're going to use to support the coachees you're working with, support your own coaching practices, or will you use this information to inform program-level decisions and planning regarding virtual coaching for now and the future? So, we've received a lot of questions from coaches asking for advice on how to connect with coachees, especially when they've never met them at a distance, and we know how important the collaborative partnership is in laying the groundwork for coaching to be successful. So, Ragan, I'm going to ask you, how do you build a collaborative coaching partnership virtually?

Ragan: Ashley, that's a really great question, and I know a lot of people who are coaching virtually right now have that question. And so, you know, I think what's really important is to build that collaborative partnership – to have that collaborative partnership, it's really important that the coach understands the coachee's context, right? That they understand as a teacher, what's their teaching style? What are their kids like in their classroom? What are the resources they have in the classroom? What's that layout? How does it function in the moment? Or as a home visitor, what are the families like that they're interacting with? What are the needs and the strengths that are there, right? What is their style of interacting with parents? So, those are all really – really important things for a coach to know. And so, we know that when people are coaching virtually and doing focused observations specifically by video and having those videos uploaded, often, those videos are really short for the focused observation. So, I know when I was coaching by distance and using video as the focused observation, the teacher I was coaching at the time would upload those videos, and they were often really – really short, you know, just a few minutes because we were looking at specific teaching practices, right, so I was looking for something very small and focused. But that makes it difficult for me to really understand that classroom as a whole. So, one thing we suggest, is if you're just starting a virtual coaching partnership, is that there's a longer video that's not really focused on a goal or an action plan at the beginning of just, say, an hour or so of that teacher or a full home visit with the home visitor of you really getting to understand how that classroom or how that home visit works. What, again, is the interaction style of the coachee? What are the children or the families that are interacting with like? So that you can really get a better sense of that context, and then, when you get into, you know, really focusing on those goals, it helps you as a coach to better understand how you can support them identify those goals or how you can support them to create an action plan that's going to work for them. So, you know, we also really want to think about being aware of the learning style of the coachee, and, again, having kind of those conversations beforehand and knowing what will work for them is really important. So, having some conversations before you even dive into looking at data and look at developing those goals and action plans.

And then, you know, of course, as with anything when we're working with others in our program, we really want to consider what they bring to the table. We want to consider using those what we call culturally relevant coaching practices, right? So, you, as a coach, really need to be aware of your own experiences and how that influences your beliefs or your perspectives and expectations. You, as a coach, really need to be open to listening and learning from others' perspective. You need to really think about – as everything with practice-based coaching – how do I apply this in a very strengths-based way or really focusing on the strengths of the coachee? And then, again knowing that coachees, knowing who they are, knowing what their context is for the practices they're going to be using is so important. So, some pre-conversations about this with your coachees, and, you know, “getting to know you” type conversations are really important. And it's also important in kind of an ongoing way to continue to build and foster that collaborative partnership by having some time in your virtual – building in some time in those virtual meetings – in your reflection and feedback or your shared goals and action planning meetings – to have conversations about what's going on in the context and to be celebrating the successes that coachees are experiencing. You also want to make sure you have time to problem solve anything that's going on and really provide support maybe on something that is not directly related to the action plan steps but something that has to do with the child that will affect the goal and the action plan. So, building in some time to really have conversations on those ongoing meetings that you have with your coachees.

Ashley: Thank you. I really like the idea of building in that extra time to be intentional in that relationship building, so those are great considerations to think about. So, Joyce, we're going to shift over to shared goals and action planning. Do you have any tips or strategies that you'd like to share for planning shared goals and action planning virtually?

Joyce: Yeah, definitely. So, whether it's in person or virtually, developing a goal is definitely a shared activity – a shared process between the coach and the coachee. It requires both the coach and the coachee kind of looking at that needs assessment data and the coachee kind of deciding on, "OK, so what's my priority? What do I want to work on?” You know, kind of, first, listen and put in some support from the coach, so you always start there. And then, you know, just recognizing that now with kind of going back and forth between, you know, in person and virtual, you know, kind of services that the practices that the coach and the coachee may work on together, those may shift. And that's OK, you know, just knowing first that that is OK and that, you know, if the coachee is, you know, teaching children virtually or supporting families virtually then, you know, they may focus on practices that are specific to virtual interactions and supporting some of those virtual activities and interactions. And so, one, just kind of knowing that that's OK but just focusing in on, "OK, what are the practices that we can focus in on? What can we support virtually?” And just to remember that the action plan, whether you're using it virtually or in person, really is the road map. It outlines the steps for success. It outlines what we're going to do to be able to accomplish our goal, and if we need to make some adjustments along the way, the action plan allows for that, and also just thinking about the different resources and kind of things that you can plug in there, and also remembering that the action plan also requires you to kind of think about a time line of, you know, “How much time are we going to kind of give ourselves to kind of work on this?” And then, if we need to come back and revisit and adjust and, you know, kind of keep moving forward, then that's OK as well. And just remember that the process is similar, whether you're doing it in person or virtually, when creating an action plan together. One way to kind of help facilitate and make those connections virtually is that you can share a screen. You know, in our in-person trainings, we talk about the power of the pen and talk about, you know, a coachee being able to even write out the action plan. We can still do that virtually. You just share a screen together, and, you know, you can still kind of brainstorm and do the work together that way. And then, another Head Start Coaching Companion connection there is that when you are action planning within the Head Start Coaching Companion, when you're setting up that action plan and those action plan steps, that you can actually tag in resources that are already populated for you in the Head Start Coaching Companion resource library. And then, also a coach, if you've already been kind of utilizing resources, your own resources, that those kind of come together in your own personal media library that you can tag in as well so just another highlight there.

Ashley: Thanks, Joyce. I love that screen sharing tip because that really – I could see how that really would support collaboration through that step between the coach and the coachee.

Joyce: Yeah, it's all about that connection.

Ashley: Yeah, absolutely. So, Ragan, I'm going to pose this next question to you. What should be considered related to focused observations when coaching virtually?

Ragan: Yeah, Ashley, I think that's, again, another great question. I think that when we're thinking about focused observation, what's really important is if your coachee is going to be filming themselves – and I had this experience when I was working with coachees virtually – that they really need to be trained in how to use that video equipment. Are they using a tablet or a camera or whatever it is? They need to be trained in how to videotape themselves as well as how to upload that video if they're sharing it with you by the web. If coachees are having to clip videos, they need to be trained on how to do that and given some, you know, guide for how to clip those videos. Additionally, you know, we found that it's really important to have somebody who can really help them troubleshoot. So, if, you know, the first few times they're doing that video, they're recording and clipping those videos, you knowing when they're going to do that so you can be there for them to call or text or get in touch with if they need support with that. Really important that coaches and coachees are specific about what the activity is in that shared goals and action planning meeting, that they specify, "I'm going to record as the coachee this specific time of my group or this specific time of my home visit," so that you can really see those practices in the action plan. So, that's the planning ahead piece and making sure that you're on the same page about what's going to be recorded. And then, again, you know, providing that tech support – that ongoing support. One thing to think about: If you're doing a focused observation in a family's home during a home visit, if that family is consulted and aware of the fact that it's being recorded for the focused observation.

Ashley: Thank you so much, Ragan. So, Joyce, what are some tips for getting the most out of reflection and feedback virtually?

Joyce: Yeah, so, with reflection and feedback, it's really, again, just remember what you would do in person. Remember just to be objective. The great thing with virtual coaching is that using video gives you that opportunity to be very objective because you're watching a clip of a very specific practice. And so, that's kind of one definite pro there. And then, being specific, and having a video allows you the opportunity to be very specific in your feedback because you just have this short window that you're looking at. And so, those are kind of just two pros there. And then, also, just again, another shout-out to the Head Start Coaching Companion, and we mentioned this before, is the ability to tag video, so when you're watching a video, you can provide feedback right there in real time to say, "Hey, I saw you do this," and you can use that during your reflection and feedback time, and then, also, you're able to reply back and forth through those comments. That, again, allows and facilitates that connection.

Ashley: Thank you so much, Ragan and Joyce, for sharing your expertise with us today, and we know that we've given you a lot of resources, and to make them easier to find, we've put them into a list and included that handout as part of the resources in the resource widget for this webinar. One of the resources I want to point out is the MyPeers practice-based coaching group that we have. It's a great way to connect with other coaches virtually and kind of create that community of practice to share ideas, have that problem solve discussion. And then, another resource from the handout I want to highlight is the National Center for Pyramid Model Innovations webinar, “Coaching in a Virtual World.” This webinar shares some great strategies and resources for coaching around the implementation of pyramid model practices, and they've got some great information on coaching virtually as well.

Joyce: Yeah, so, now we're excited, so we're going to turn off our cameras, and we're going to dive into our Q&A chat box and kind of respond to some of the questions that have been coming up.

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